UK history for the citizenship test

Early Britain (pre-1066)

Romans invaded in AD 43 and left around AD 410. Anglo-Saxons settled afterwards. Vikings raided from the late 8th century. Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings in the late 9th century and built the foundation for a unified kingdom — England was first ruled as a single country by his grandson Æthelstan around AD 927.

Norman Conquest to Magna Carta

1066 — William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings. 1215 — King John sealed Magna Carta, establishing that the king was subject to the law. These are the two most-tested early dates in the entire handbook.

Tudors (1485–1603)

Henry VII founded the dynasty after Bosworth (1485). Henry VIII broke from Rome with the Act of Supremacy (1534) and started the English Reformation. Edward VI continued Protestant reform; Mary I ("Bloody Mary") tried to reverse it. Elizabeth I — the "Virgin Queen" — defeated the Spanish Armada (1588) and oversaw the flourishing of English drama under Shakespeare.

Stuarts and the Civil War (1603–1714)

James VI of Scotland became James I of England in 1603, uniting the crowns. The Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament failed in 1605. Charles I's conflict with Parliament led to the English Civil War (1642–51) and his execution in 1649. After eleven years of republican rule — first the Commonwealth (1649–53), then Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate (1653–58) — the monarchy was restored under Charles II in 1660. The Glorious Revolution (1688) replaced James II with William III and Mary II, and the Bill of Rights (1689) made the monarch subject to Parliament. England and Scotland joined as Great Britain under the Act of Union (1707).

Industrial Revolution

Britain led the world in steam power, railways, and textile manufacturing. Key inventions and improvements: James Watt's improved steam engine (1769), Hargreaves' spinning jenny, Trevithick's first steam locomotive (1804) and Stephenson's Rocket (1829). Isambard Kingdom Brunel built the Great Western Railway and the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Empire, reform and Victorian Britain (1714–1901)

The Hanoverian kings (George I–IV, William IV) presided over the expansion of the British Empire and the loss of the American colonies after 1783. Slavery was abolished in the Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. The Great Reform Act (1832) widened the vote. Queen Victoria reigned for 63 years (1837–1901), during which the Empire reached its peak, Florence Nightingale reformed nursing during the Crimean War, and the Great Exhibition (1851) showcased British industry.

Modern era (1901–present)

WWI (1914–18) and WWII (1939–45) shaped the modern UK. Women over 30 got the vote in 1918; equal franchise at 21 followed in 1928. Edward VIII abdicated in 1936; George VI led Britain through WWII. The NHS was founded under Clement Attlee in 1948. The UK joined the EEC in 1973 and left the EU on 31 January 2020. Elizabeth II reigned 1952–2022 — the longest reign in British history — and was succeeded by Charles III.

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